570 vanished lives

01Cenozoic

They lived not on endless ice, but in a wind-shaped grassland ecosystem.

02Cenozoic

Its enormous canines were only part of the weapon; the real power lay in exceptionally strong forelimbs.

18Paleozoic

This sail-backed predator was closer to mammals than to dinosaurs.

19Paleozoic

A beaked, tusked survivor became extraordinarily common after Earth’s greatest mass extinction.

20Cenozoic

Standing on its hind legs, this elephant-sized sloth could reach high branches with huge claws.

21Cenozoic

A domed shell of fused armor protected this car-sized relative of armadillos.

22Cenozoic

The largest deer antlers known were seasonal structures for display and competition.

23Cenozoic

A heavy-jawed canid hunted the large herbivores of Ice Age America.

24Recently extinct

Australia’s striped marsupial predator survived longest in Tasmania.

27Recently extinct

This enormous, slow sirenian grazed kelp in cold shallow water.

38Paleozoic

Long saber canines armed one of the largest predators of the latest Permian.

63Cenozoic

The largest known land mammal was a hornless rhinoceros relative built to browse high foliage.

64Cenozoic

Knob-like skull horns and long canines crowned this rhinoceros-sized herbivore.

65Cenozoic

This long-bodied early whale still carried tiny external hind limbs.

66Cenozoic

Huge teeth in both jaws armed a macropredatory sperm whale.

67Cenozoic

Ever-growing saber canines evolved independently in this marsupial relative.

68Cenozoic

This long-necked hoofed mammal belonged to a uniquely South American lineage.

69Cenozoic

A heavy-bodied native ungulate grazed and browsed beside Ice Age giants.

70Cenozoic

This enormous grazing rhinoceros probably supported a large horn on its forehead.

71Cenozoic

A thick coat and flattened horn equipped this rhinoceros for cold, dry mammoth steppe.

72Recently extinct

This plains zebra had bold stripes in front fading into a plain brown rear body.

73Recently extinct

The powerful wild ancestor of domestic cattle once ranged across three continents.

74Recently extinct

The only seal endemic to the Caribbean rested and bred on warm sandy shores.

75Recently extinct

This unusually tame island canid was the Falklands’ only native land mammal.